The Harley Fan Machine

13 March 2012by Keep Britain Biking

We check out the latest online app to hit the motorcycling market

As the internet has become more and more powerful, so to have the technologies that allow you to become that bit closer to the brands and companies you care about. Now Harley Davidson is taking this a step further by giving fans the chance to transform the way their company works.

The company is launching a pioneering ‘crowdsourcing’ Facebook app, to which they plan to post design briefs for upcoming advertising activity, opening up the floor to their passionate followers and finding some great ideas for possible future campaigns.

Fans will be able to view each other’s contributions and make suggestions on which they think work best, as well as voting for the idea they like the most. All fans who take part in this process will be up for great Harley Davidson rewards.

Harley Davidson’s chief marketing officer, Mark-Hans Richer, believes that by working with their fans through this online network, they will be tapping into a gold mine of great ideas generated by the people who buy the product.

“This is not a publicity stunt, or a limited time engagement. We’re committed to crowdsourcing because these ideas naturally flow from our passionate fans. As the true stewards of our brand, our fans now have a huge new platform to share their ideas.

“It works for us because their passion for our brand is second-to-none. They’re going to light this thing up, and it will be fun to watch.”

This isn’t the first time Harley has worked with their user-base. Their previous ‘No Cages’ campaign, based upon the idea of liberation, was created by working with Harley fans.

So do you think it works? Does Harley truly have the customer in mind, or is it simply a way for them to save some cash and generate publicity? Let us know your thoughts!